RP Guilds, and the line

[Letallis]

Just asking for opinions here. I have noticed there are a number of guilds that call themselves a Heavy RP guild. A few I've seen around the fleet or NS tend to be heavy, but it looks more like heavy breathing than serious rp if you get my meaning. The things I've seen in public just makes me a bit uncomfortable, and no telling what is going on privately. I've seen it on LA quite a bit and some on Sanctum. Not saying all HRP guilds are like this, but some of them are just weird, and I don't mean Napoleon Dynamite weird. More like Old guy in a raincoat weird. Thoughts anyone?

[Aeramen]

I tend not to apply to "Heavy RP" guilds, and if I end up in one, I certainly discourage the use of that term. I'm not entirely surprised it's become synonymous with ERP in certain circles and/or on certain servers, and I'll probably shy even further away from it now that I know that, even though I personally have nothing against ERP.

 

I've always found the term a bit silly, and never really understood why it has to be used. The guilds tagging themselves "Heavy RP" aren't usually any more serious, mature or even RP-focused than any other guilds. It seems like a pretentious way of saying "We're better than everyone else, our RP is shinier than everyone else's", when in fact it's often the other way around; what I've usually found when involving myself in RP with such guilds is elitism, nitpicking and ridiculous pathos. People who completely forget that RP is first and foremost for fun. That lore can be interpreted in several different ways. That sitting in a cantina moaning about your minimum wage job kinda defeats the point of RP - getting away from the boring and the everyday.

 

In my experience, the words to describe the best RP guilds are such as "flexible", "inclusive", "fair" and, to some extent, "loud". Not "heavy."

[Letallis]

Did I hit a nerve? Not too many weighing in on the subject.

[Scorpienne]

Just asking for opinions here. I have noticed there are a number of guilds that call themselves a Heavy RP guild. A few I've seen around the fleet or NS tend to be heavy, but it looks more like heavy breathing than serious rp if you get my meaning. The things I've seen in public just makes me a bit uncomfortable, and no telling what is going on privately. I've seen it on LA quite a bit and some on Sanctum. Not saying all HRP guilds are like this, but some of them are just weird, and I don't mean Napoleon Dynamite weird. More like Old guy in a raincoat weird. Thoughts anyone?

 

Heh. Well... ERP is, arguably, about the safest way to get your freak on, but just like all activities of a sexual nature, it needs to take place IN PRIVATE among consenting adults.

 

If the very idea of ERP bothers you, just treat it like real-life sex; there is some disturbing freaky stuff going on behind closed doors all around you all the time, but if you don't see it and aren't aware of ti, then it's okay. :-)

 

If you see it going on in public, just politely and respectfully ask them to take it to party chat. If they don't, then please report them.

 

I dunno what to say about Heavy RP guilds... some of them seem upright. Not a lot of personal experience there because I like casual RP guilds.

 

My guild's pretty casual; guild chat is OOC, but we have a RP custom chat channel and we use /say and /me for RP when we're RPing, which is usually at predefined RP events. If there's ERP going on, it's blessedly private and I don't know about it - which is the way it should be...

 

Paige

 

Paige

Edited May 15, 2012 by Scorpienne

[Letallis]

Heh. Well... ERP is, arguably, about the safest way to get your freak on, but just like all activities of a sexual nature, it needs to take place IN PRIVATE among consenting adults.

 

If the very idea of ERP bothers you, just treat it like real-life sex; there is some disturbing freaky stuff going on behind closed doors all around you all the time, but if you don't see it and aren't aware of ti, then it's okay. :-)

 

If you see it going on in public, just politely and respectfully ask them to take it to party chat. If they don't, then please report them.

 

Paige

 

True, true! That being said. I'd not be so concerned if not for the weirdness I've seen in fleet and NS. What happens on your ship stays on your ship in my opinion. It's that odd uncomfortable moment in public where things get weird. Those folks are the very people that flock to "Heavy" RP guilds from what I've seen.

 

There was an avid ERPer in my old guild. They didn't do anything in guild chat, but they talked about stuff that was sort of not right. They quit and moved one of the Heavy RP guilds on the server..now they are a "council member" or however they refer to their lead group in that guild. I am by no means a prude but at the same time, that just makes me wonder about the guild as a whole. Not to mention the <18 group that maybe seeing that stuff.

[Scorpienne]

Well, if you see ERP out in public, please, for the good of the server, tell those guys to get a room.

 

The whole <18 thing is the terrifying part of it. Even if you're doing everything right, and in a completely private chat, you have *no* way of knowing who these other people are IRL. That's cool, because in most cases, it doesn't matter. It only matters if they're <18 and their legal guardians get involved, and suddenly you're in trouble...

 

 

Paige

[CosmicKat]

Just asking for opinions here. I have noticed there are a number of guilds that call themselves a Heavy RP guild. A few I've seen around the fleet or NS tend to be heavy, but it looks more like heavy breathing than serious rp if you get my meaning. The things I've seen in public just makes me a bit uncomfortable, and no telling what is going on privately. I've seen it on LA quite a bit and some on Sanctum. Not saying all HRP guilds are like this, but some of them are just weird, and I don't mean Napoleon Dynamite weird. More like Old guy in a raincoat weird. Thoughts anyone?

 

Adult or ERP has always been and will always be common in RP guilds of any sort, in any MMO. It is a natural outcome given the combination of imaginative people, playing anonymously in gaming genres that are often heavily sexualized. Thinking otherwise is just being naive.

 

Personally, the plethora of Sith guilds that seem to be about as evil as the easter bunny make my skin crawl worse than any sexy time RP I've ever seen in public.

[Scorpienne]

Adult or ERP has always been and will always be common in RP guilds of any sort, in any MMO.

 

I must politely and respectfully disagree with you. I know plenty of family-friendly and adult-only RP guilds where ERP is **most emphatically** not welcome in any part of any guild activity. Start with my guild, for instance and add the Army of Light, Vu'Traat, Beskar, The Corellian League, The Grey Jedi Order, New Dawn, Steadfast, and True Covenant. Those are just the big guilds I know well on my server. All of them are RP guilds, and none of them will tolerate ERP in public or as a part of any guild activity.

 

If individuals want to do it in private, then they are welcome to it, but it is not part of the guild practice.

 

If it's occuring in my guild or in these guilds, it's occuring so privately I'm not aware of it... which is how it should be.

 

Paige

[CosmicKat]

I must politely and respectfully disagree with you. I know plenty of family-friendly and adult-only RP guilds where ERP is **most emphatically** not welcome in any part of any guild activity. Start with my guild, for instance and add the Army of Light, Vu'Traat, Beskar, The Corellian League, The Grey Jedi Order, New Dawn, Steadfast, and True Covenant. Those are just the big guilds I know well on my server. All of them are RP guilds, and none of them will tolerate ERP in public or as a part of any guild activity.

 

If individuals want to do it in private, then they are welcome to it, but it is not part of the guild practice.

 

If it's occuring in my guild or in these guilds, it's occuring so privately I'm not aware of it... which is how it should be.

 

Paige

 

Bad wording on my part I guess. I did not mean it was going on as part of the guild's "official" activities, just that it goes on among players in virtually every guild in every game.

I have been in some mature themed guilds and it rarely happens 'publicly' in those either, by the way.

[storwars]

Eroticism isn't an RP thing at all. It's an adult thing. Adult entertainment is a private matter that has legal ramifications when it is exposed publicly. That's why 18+ Non-RP guilds exist too.

 

If people are making you uncomfortable in videogame-land then you are welcome to report them for being stupid and not respecting your boundaries but, honestly /ignore works great. As a community service I'd personally recommend you put on your bigkid pants and remind them that there might be kids on the fleet and that they probably want to go somewhere more private. Report them only if they are buggers about it.

 

I reckon it might be tough to roleplay a promiscuous, bloodthirsty, self-absorbedbbed, sadistic Sith lord without making folks uncomfortable. The darkside is not for everyone.

Edited May 16, 2012 by storwars

[Letallis]

Eroticism isn't an RP thing at all. It's an adult thing. Adult entertainment is a private matter that has legal ramifications when it is exposed publicly. That's why 18+ Non-RP guilds exist too.

 

If people are making you uncomfortable in videogame-land then you are welcome to report them for being stupid and not respecting your boundaries but, honestly /ignore works great. As a community service I'd personally recommend you put on your bigkid pants and remind them that there might be kids on the fleet and that they probably want to go somewhere more private. Report them only if they are buggers about it.

 

I reckon it might be tough to roleplay a promiscuous, bloodthirsty, self-absorbedbbed, sadistic Sith lord without making folks uncomfortable. The darkside is not for everyone.

 

I don't mind the promiscuous sadistic sith. What bothers me are the slave/master things going on in public that have the slave touching stuff that borders on, or goes over the edge of "Turn your faces away kids, that's just not right". That's just one example. Personally I have no problem telling someone to cool it. I remember seeing certain realms on WoW degenerate into places I'd never let a kid play on. I'd just hate to see that happen here in this game. Ignore is a great tool, but I cringe to think what younger minds maybe seeing when this stuff goes on.

[CosmicKat]

I don't mind the promiscuous sadistic sith. What bothers me are the slave/master things going on in public that have the slave touching stuff that borders on, or goes over the edge of "Turn your faces away kids, that's just not right". That's just one example. Personally I have no problem telling someone to cool it. I remember seeing certain realms on WoW degenerate into places I'd never let a kid play on. I'd just hate to see that happen here in this game. Ignore is a great tool, but I cringe to think what younger minds maybe seeing when this stuff goes on.

 

I understand your point and don't disagree with it entirely. There is a place for that sort of RP and public spaces isn't it.

However, the hypocracy of it is worth noting. "Turn your faces away kids, that's just not right..... Go back to murdering countless enemies, allies, and innocents!"

[Letallis]

I understand your point and don't disagree with it entirely. There is a place for that sort of RP and public spaces isn't it.

However, the hypocracy of it is worth noting. "Turn your faces away kids, that's just not right..... Go back to murdering countless enemies, allies, and innocents!"

 

There maybe a point there, but killing NPC's vs seeing a two people acting out their erotic fantasies in a public tableau...I can see parents letting their kids play a game like this. What I don't want them to have to do is explain to their kids why some person is rubbing her master's "light saber" in a public place or something along that venue.

 

What goes on behind closed doors is their own business but when that play comes out in public.. not good. I am not a prude but I also don't act out in the wrong environment. I put this post up to see what others thought. I appreciate all the input and in reference to the question about what I saw I didn't like.. that light saber comment.. is a true statement but they didn't use the word light saber. It happened in Sobrik, on the LA server. That's just one example.

[LegionnaireSix]

As a guildmaster, I use the term 'Mid-to-heavy RP' while recruiting so people know what to expect: a focus on RP. If I could post more characters in the General channel, I'd probably say 'we look for outstanding RP, original characters, and to some extent, good grammar abilities'. But there's nobody in the guild who does any kind of ERP, as far as I know. And I really, really hope it stays that way.

 

This is what I think whenever I see/hear/think of ERP:

 

Statistically, you're probably a dude. And that hot, promiscuous bunch of pixels that makes up the smuggler in front of your character wearing the slave girl outfit?

 

Also probably a dude pretending to not be a dude.

[Scorpienne]

http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2011.pdf

 

The entertainment software association, an industry group for video games, would like to offer you some interesting facts.

 

Page 3 of the PDF

42% of game players are female.

 

No idea on SWTOR's demographics, of course. Forums are a biased and imperfect subsample.

 

Paige

[Letallis]

I think the gentleman's post implies that most women don't have to get on a game to get their freak on..

And there are a number of female avatars out there played by men and male avatars played by women. So you never really know.

[LegionnaireSix]

Yes, don't get me wrong, I wasn't bringing out the old 'girlz dont play video games lolol' nonsense.

[Thraze]

It does seem that "Heavy RP" has become code for "ERP" in my experience as well. From what I've experienced on Empire side (Lord Adraas), noble house guilds like "House Herpaderp" are havens for ERP. Lots even have "Slave Girl/Boy" ranks in the guild. Edited May 24, 2012 by Thraze

[Kallist_Rhoka]

When my guild on Lord Adraas recruits, and even on our guild website, we mention we're a heavy RP guild because that's our main focus in terms of RP/PvP/PvE. Yes we have our guild PvP and flashpointing bouts, but most of the time we're busy RPing pretty heavily for hours at a time on Korriban or some other sort of event. Just because some guilds on Lord Adraas (I'm only using the server since I play on it and it was brought up) are more well-known for their ERP escapades, that doesn't necessarily mean that all "heavy RP" guilds are the "heavy breathing" guilds. At that point it boils down to the guild itself; I know one or two of those "House Herpaderp" (not naming specifics) have been complained about as ERP havens, but I also know plenty of other guilds (as well as another House guild) that don't contain that. At least not publicly so.

 

To say heavy RP guilds are filled with ERP is a little unfair.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Kallist_Rhoka

[Sauska]

I cringe to think what younger minds maybe seeing when this stuff goes on.

This game is rated 16+, and I doubt any 16+ will be shocked at what they see. I'm actually more shocked at the irresponsibility of parents letting kids younger than 16 play this game. The rating is there for a reason.

 

Having said that, yes, I agree, when the RP develops into ERP and especially when it gets fairly explicit, move it into a private party. Most of us don't entertain our better halves out in the garden for all the neighbours to see either.

 

Finally, promiscuity happens in all MMOs, hell, all over the internet, probably just as often as part of RP as not.

[Letallis]

When my guild on Lord Adraas recruits, and even on our guild website, we mention we're a heavy RP guild because that's our main focus in terms of RP/PvP/PvE. Yes we have our guild PvP and flashpointing bouts, but most of the time we're busy RPing pretty heavily for hours at a time on Korriban or some other sort of event. Just because some guilds on Lord Adraas (I'm only using the server since I play on it and it was brought up) are more well-known for their ERP escapades, that doesn't necessarily mean that all "heavy RP" guilds are the "heavy breathing" guilds. At that point it boils down to the guild itself; I know one or two of those "House Herpaderp" (not naming specifics) have been complained about as ERP havens, but I also know plenty of other guilds (as well as another House guild) that don't contain that. At least not publicly so.

 

To say heavy RP guilds are filled with ERP is a little unfair.

 

One of those "House ****" guilds has an avid ERPer as a council member. I know this as they were in a guild I was in prior to leaving LA and they'd say things in guild chat that weren't condoned but not quieted either. I stayed clear of that person for the short time I was in that guild. If they are on the council I have no doubt the guild is a haven for ERP. Last time I checked the only kind of house a person like that would be in charge of wasn't some place you'd go in and out of in the light of day.

 

I know I sound like a broken record but I guess I am disappointed. I'd really like to get in a good RP guild but a majority of the "heavier" guilds seem to have that dark cloud about them.

[Malles]

Just asking for opinions here. I have noticed there are a number of guilds that call themselves a Heavy RP guild. A few I've seen around the fleet or NS tend to be heavy, but it looks more like heavy breathing than serious rp if you get my meaning. The things I've seen in public just makes me a bit uncomfortable, and no telling what is going on privately. I've seen it on LA quite a bit and some on Sanctum. Not saying all HRP guilds are like this, but some of them are just weird, and I don't mean Napoleon Dynamite weird. More like Old guy in a raincoat weird. Thoughts anyone?

 

I've always found the term a bit silly, and never really understood why it has to be used. The guilds tagging themselves "Heavy RP" aren't usually any more serious, mature or even RP-focused than any other guilds. It seems like a pretentious way of saying "We're better than everyone else, our RP is shinier than everyone else's", when in fact it's often the other way around; what I've usually found when involving myself in RP with such guilds is elitism, nitpicking and ridiculous pathos. People who completely forget that RP is first and foremost for fun. That lore can be interpreted in several different ways. That sitting in a cantina moaning about your minimum wage job kinda defeats the point of RP - getting away from the boring and the everyday.

 

Heavy RP, from what I've seen, is defined as a guild with members who spend most of the time in-game and even out of game composing storylines or backgrounds and whatnot. ERP is meant to realistic and is not a serious issue except when people use it to troll, typically public ERP. It's not perverted; I a guy who's roleplayed a lesbian paladin not because that's what I'm into, but because I thought it made her a more interesting character and because I'm uncomfortable with having a guy hit on me whether it's in the real word or make believe. Like another poster said, all kinds of freaky things go on around you in real life and you don't care because it's out of sight and therefore out of mind.

 

As for the elitism that comes with those guilds, I think that has more to do with the fact that most roleplayers were the stereotypical high school nerd or fat kid who got picked on a lot and told they were worth nothing. So they fell in love with a fantasy world, gained popularity among like-minded people, and got enough self-worth to get some passion and an ego. Catch to that is, they're only worth something in said fantasy world and bring in the insecurities they got from the real world, and thus will nitpick over nothing and find insults where there are none. My favorite is taking an issue made IN CHARACTER and treating it like a real-life confrontation. This is common behavior with all secular gaming communities and as a roleplayer I learned to ignore it to a degree. Some people never leave high school and they're not just found online. If you just got offended you proved my point.

 

The line starts with creating fanfiction with your friends and ends with telling said friend he's a racist because he plays Empire.

 

Off topic: The best way to tick off a Star Wars fan is to call canon lore and to get it wrong anyway.

[Letallis]

This game is rated 16+, and I doubt any 16+ will be shocked at what they see. I'm actually more shocked at the irresponsibility of parents letting kids younger than 16 play this game. The rating is there for a reason.

 

Having said that, yes, I agree, when the RP develops into ERP and especially when it gets fairly explicit, move it into a private party. Most of us don't entertain our better halves out in the garden for all the neighbours to see either.

 

Finally, promiscuity happens in all MMOs, hell, all over the internet, probably just as often as part of RP as not.

 

So just because everyone does it then it's ok? You're comfortable letting your 16 year old daughter talking nasty to some older guy across the internet? Maybe strolling down the street at home and seeing a couple doing the horizontal happy dance in their front yard? There is a place for everything but keep it in private and guilds that propagate this behavior should go away. No sure way to be able to check age with players. Better safe than sorry.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Letallis

[Letallis]

fixed* Edited May 24, 2012 by Letallis

[Jazshen]

ERP is going to happen. I think plenty has been discussed to say that kept private it's fine, done publicly is not.

 

Problem with something like 'heavy RP' is it falls foul of the same issue of calling a player 'casual' or 'hardcore'. The two words have huge variant meaning depending on who is using them and why. In one conversation hardcore and casual are used merely to describe different attitudes towards gaming. In another the terms might be hurled as insults at the other side for having the 'wrong' attitude that 'totally ruins the game'. In yet another conversation a player may refer to themselves as hardcore/casual to promote it/themselves as playing the game as it's supposed to be played.

 

Same with the term 'heavy RP'. To some people it's just that - a guild that will focus on RP above all others. To other people, it's a pretentious label. To yet others, it's synonymous for elitist douches who won't even let you leave the keyboard without coming up with an RP excuse.

 

In the case of my guild on Trask Ulgo, we could easily be described as 'heavy RP'ers' in that when we DO RP, we're deadly serious about it. Heck, I personally love deep, griitty 'mature' RP (which again gets mistaken as ERP way too often for my liking). But we have no unifying guild 'theme', we doss around and laugh a lot in guild chat, we occasionally break immersion by doing silly things in RP while laughing over Skype. Those last three things might well have other guilds pointing at us and going 'feh, they're not REAL RPers'. We don't care, we're having a great time doing serious RP when we want it.

 

It's daft, really